GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO

Lisbeth Salander has finally been cast for David Fincher's (Fight Club, Se7en) upcoming American adaptation of the popular Swedish novel and film. The pint sized heroine will be portrayed by Rooney Mara (The Social Network, A Nightmare on Elm Street). From her previous work, Mara has mainly been known as the cute girl next door, which is on the complete other spectrum of Salander--one adorned with piercings and tattoos, and who literally beats the crap out of men.

Mara was selected opposite Daniel Craig who will play the other protagonist Mikael Blomkvist. There is a lot of sex in the source material, some of which shared by Blomkvist and Salander. With the severe age differential, the onscreen chemistry between the two actors will have to be believable for the film to work. There's also a fair bit of nudity by Salander, so it remains to be seen whether Fincher will ask Mara to go down that road.

Mara beat out Ellen Page, Natalie Portman, Scarlett Johansson and Carey Mulligan for the role.